Living with what happens next

They are ready to live with the outcomes when the Marriage Act changes.

The difficult part is living with the delay and the obstacles to changing the Marriage Act.

IF we have a plebiscite on marriage equality, it means more waiting.

More alarmingly, we will have to live with a period of debate involving hate-speech, misinformation, denigration and community division.

Such negativity and hostility will affect everyone, in particular, the psychological health and well-being of the LGBTIQ community and their loved ones.

The narrative a plebiscite sends is that our elected representatives of the Australian Parliament do not wish to act in the national interest.

Our politicians have decided that a plebiscite costing $160 million is necessary before legislating on same-sex marriage.

Yet previous Federal and State Parliaments have legislated on complex and social issues without a plebiscite.

No plebiscite was required with the abolition of the death penalty, the end of the White Australia Policy and the Racial Discrimination Act, or on issues of abortion, voluntary euthanasia and stem cell research.

Australians are tired of waiting for marriage equality.

We don’t need a plebiscite or a referendum to achieve marriage equality in Australia.

What we need is leadership from politicians.

Parliament can and should legislate on the matter of marriage to remove discrimination against same sex couples.

The majority of Australians want to live in an egalitarian country where same-sex couples have the right and the choice to marry.